


The Brother I Always Needed

by SSA_SarahSunshine



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: Angst, Brother and Sister - Freeform, F/M, Family, Fluff, More tags maybe later, Other, Protective BAU Team (Criminal Minds), Protective Derek Morgan, The BAU Family, The BAU Team as Family (Criminal Minds), criminal minds - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-24
Updated: 2021-01-24
Packaged: 2021-03-16 08:34:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,999
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28953522
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SSA_SarahSunshine/pseuds/SSA_SarahSunshine
Summary: Derek is such a big brother to Kassidy Hughes (my Criminal Minds OC), so I wanted to write something that kind of helped establish when it all started. Or, at least, when Kassidy thought it started.This is kind of a follow-up to the Sister one-shot.Kassidy Hughes is slowly finding herself in the BAU family tree <3
Relationships: Derek Morgan/Original Character(s), Derek Morgan/Original Female Character(s), Derek Morgan/Reader
Kudos: 15





	The Brother I Always Needed

**Author's Note:**

> Warning: There are some curse words, some self-loathing, and some descriptions of violence (shoving, someone gets punched).

It wasn’t professional to cry in the office bathroom. Yet, here she was, staring at her reddened eyes and puffy cheeks in the mirror, blinking the tears away. God, why was she such a crybaby? She splashed cold water on her face, her mind reeling from the event that happened maybe 30 minutes ago. _Come on, Kassidy, It’s time to grow up and stop being so sensitive_ \- that’s what she was trying so desperately to tell herself, though her thoughts were muddled with anxiety. She sniffled, rubbing her thumbs across her eyes, willing the tears away. 

An hour ago, everything was fine; great, actually. Her day had been pretty decent and non-eventful. There haven’t been any new cases at all this week, so the whole team was getting caught up on past paperwork. She took on an extra load from Morgan after giving her his signature puppy-dog eyes, but she didn’t mind. She liked being helpful. She wanted to make her friends smile. She had brought everyone coffee that morning. They were all joking and talking and laughing and enjoying being able to stay home for longer than three days at a time. 

And then, on her way to the break room, she accidentally bumped into a stranger, spilling his coffee down the front of his suit. He was furious with her- no, that was an understatement. He was seething. She tried to stammer out an apology, reaching out to try and maybe salvage the situation. His eyes darkened as he shoved her back, knocking her to the floor, “Watch where you’re going!” He had shouted and thrown his empty coffee cup to the ground by her feet, “Do you even know who I am? Do you know how expensive this suit was? It’s worth more than your life-!”

“Watch it, buddy!” Morgan had pushed his way between them, his brows furrowed, and his eyes were blazing, “How about you watch your mouth before you get punched!” He glanced back at her, eyes softening just a touch, “Are you okay, Kass?” He reached down and took her hand, pulling her to her feet. She nodded dumbly, “‘M fine,” she mumbled. 

“You stupid agents have no idea who I am, do you? Idiots,” the man hissed, grabbing some papers from a nearby desk to dab at the coffee on his tie. Morgan glared at him, snatching the papers away (somehow without ripping them), “I don’t give a flying fuck who you are, you don’t have the right to shove anyone around. You aren’t above us, man. It was an accident,” his glare deepened slightly, “You should apologize.”

The man scoffed and turned away, leaving his mess behind, “She ran into me. Teach your bitch to watch where she’s going.”

Kassidy didn’t register what happened next, but then the man was on the floor, looking up at Morgan in shock, blood dripping from his nose. Morgan’s fists were shaking a little by his sides as he turned around, throwing a protective arm around Kassidy’s shoulders, “Come on, Sunshine. He isn’t worth your time. You sure you’re alright?” The dark anger that was in his eyes moments before was now nowhere to be seen, replaced with kindness and concern. Her hands were trembling a little, but she nodded, “Y-yeah Der, I’m fine. Did you really have to punch him? He sounded kind of important-”

“Sunshine,” Morgan interrupted, taking her chin in his grip and gently turning her face towards him, “Nobody, and I mean _nobody_ is too important, or too high and mighty, to treat you with kindness,” he searched her eyes to make sure she got his message. She swallowed, blinking back the tears that were now threatening her. He smiled softly and leaned forward, planting a kiss on her forehead, “Now, go to the bathroom and wash up. You got some coffee on your shirt.”

Now she was staring at herself after crying for probably 20 minutes. Would Morgan get in trouble for that stunt? Most likely. God, she hoped he wasn’t going to get fired. What if that guy was one of Strauss’s bosses? Or someone super important- like the right-hand man to the President of the United States? She felt sick. 

Taking some paper towels, she wiped the water from her face. Why did she have to be so damn clumsy? Ever since she was a child, she was bumping into people, things, even walls. She spilled her food and drinks more often than not, and she was always getting into trouble over it. Why couldn’t she just be normal?

She sniffled, wiping her hand over her nose. She looked like shit. With a deep, shaky breath, she wondered if she should go back to her desk. Or maybe she should go straight to Hotch and try to explain what happened to him? Perhaps she could save Derek from getting fired. She would blame herself forever if he got in trouble. 

“Kass?”

She glanced towards the door, seeing Penelope standing there. The other woman approached her, heels clicking on the tile, and pulled her into a tight hug. It was _so hard_ to not start crying again the second her friend’s arms were wrapped around her. _I am such a crybaby._

“It’s okay, sweetie,” Penelope cooed, “That guy was a dick. Turns out he’s not as important as he thought, and he’s going to be getting in trouble for shoving you, okay? I saw the footage and sent it to Hotch right away. You’re okay,” she started rubbing Kassidy’s back in a soothing pattern. 

And like that, the floodgates opened once more. Kassidy hiccupped as she shoved her face in the crook of Penelope’s neck, clinging to her friend even tighter. She just shushed her quietly, continuing to hold her, “It’s okay,” she whispered, “I know you were worried about Derek, huh?”

Kassidy almost laughed, choking down a sob, “I thought I was the profiler,” she tried to joke, “not you.”

Penelope pulled away a little and used her thumb to wipe the tears from Kassidy’s cheeks, smiling at her, “Oh, sweet pea, this isn’t the first time he’s punched somebody for picking on his friends. That’s the protective big brother in him, you know? I watched him knock a guy out once for being mean to Reid.”

Kassidy could imagine that. The corners of her mouth turned up a little as she wiped at her face with her sleeve, “Is he in trouble?”

“My handsome chocolate eclair? No. Hotch had a word with him, but he didn’t get written up or anything if that’s what you’re worried about,” Penelope’s smile was sweet, her eyes shimmering. Kassidy’s smile grew, “Good. I’m, um, glad he’s not in trouble. I didn’t want him being sent to the principles office for me.”

Penelope giggled, “You know he’d do it again in a heartbeat. He cares a lot about you. You know that?”

Kassidy blinked, her smile fading into something more confused, “He does? Why?” She couldn’t imagine that anyone would care _a lot_ about her. Care, yes, but a lot? She wasn’t used to having friends who wanted to protect her all the time like this. 

Penelope outright laughed now, shaking her head and pulling Kassidy into a tighter hug, “Oh honey, you’re just so sweet. I’m still shocked to this day that you’re here, working for the BAU. You see worse stuff than I do, and yet you still get shaken up because your friend stood up for you? Everyone here loves you so much, okay?” She pulled back and poked Kassidy’s nose, “Don’t forget it. Now, I ordered some food that should be here soon. I thought you might like a chocolate muffin.”

Kassidy felt her cheeks grow warm as she smiled, nodding, “Thanks, Penny. A muffin sounds good.”

Leading her from the bathroom and back into the bullpen, Penelope had her arm wrapped around Kassidy’s middle, her hand resting on her opposite hip. In the beginning, Kassidy wasn’t used to the amount of touching Penelope liked to use when interacting with her. But now, it was more normal than breathing. They were always touching each other somehow, it seemed. 

Morgan glanced up from his desk, standing to his feet the second he locked eyes with Kassidy (almost knocking his chair over with how quickly he stood), “Hey Sunshine, how are you?” He asked, taking two large steps to meet her. She smiled up at him, “I’m okay, Der, I told you. Are you?”

He chuckled, planting a kiss on the crown of her head as Penelope walked away, his hands resting on her shoulders, “I’m fine, Princess. Hotch wasn’t happy but eh, I’ll live. That guy got what was coming to him.” 

She felt warmth in her heart and smiled, “Um, thank you for standing up for me, Derek. You didn’t have to.”

“Oh, but I did. Someone’s gotta take care of you around here, you know? Not just in the field, baby girl, but in everyday life too,” his smile softened a little as he scanned her face. She felt herself relaxing in his presence. He made her feel safe. As if he could read her mind, he pulled his hands away from her shoulders and spoke quietly, “Think of me like a big brother, okay? I’ll keep the bullies away and make sure you always feel safe when you’re around me.”

She was going to get emotional again. To stop the tears from making a grand reappearance, she got on her tiptoes and wrapped her arms around his neck, planting a kiss on his forehead, “Thank you, Derek. I didn’t realize how much I needed a big brother until just now.” 

He chuckled, his hands on her waist and lifting her into the air as if she weighed nothing- she yelped in surprise- “Alright, as per the unwritten agreement that all siblings understand, I will now tease and taunt the crap out of you every time I see you.”

“You already do that!” She shouted as he tossed her over his shoulder, adjusting her in his grip. Her eyes were wide, her hands gripping the back of his shirt, “Derek Morgan if you drop me I swear to god-”

“I would never drop you, Princess! Who do you think I am?” He spun around and started walking through the bullpen towards the conference room. 

“Morgan? Morgan put me down!” Kassidy tried to kick her back legs, but his grip was too strong. She huffed, looking for Penelope to help her. Where did that colorful woman go? She just disappeared, it seemed. 

Then she noticed JJ, who just walked in, a curious look in her eyes, “JJ! Jayje save me, please! Morgan’s kidnapping me!”

JJ pursed her lips in thought, “Morgan, you _should_ probably put Hughes down before Hotch sees-” She interrupted herself, placing a hand over her mouth as she tried not to laugh.

Kassidy followed her eyes and spotted Hotch, standing right outside his door, that signature tight-lipped frown on his face. He had one eyebrow arched. Oh lord, if Morgan wasn’t in trouble before, he was now. 

Derek faltered slightly, also noticing Hotch. He gathered himself rather quickly, pretending to drop Kassidy with a grin (much to her annoyance and yelping), “Hey, Hotch,” he greeted, “something wrong?”

“Morgan,” Hotch warned, “Put Hughes down. If you two want to play around you can do it off the clock.” 

Kassidy felt her cheeks grow warm with embarrassment as her feet were firmly set back onto the ground. But, she did manage to pick up on the smallest twitch of Hotch’s mouth. He was trying not to smile. 

“Sorry, boss,” she apologized, “It won’t happen again.” She shot Morgan a look. He shrugged his shoulders, crossing his finger over his heart, “Yeah _boss_ , cross our hearts.”

Hotch rolled his eyes and went back into his office, closing the door. 

At least they didn’t get written up for that, either. Maybe today was an okay day after all.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Again, I did not really edit this but I might later idk


End file.
